Instead, they shunned it — and drafted their own plan, adding the new spending and scrapping several of his key proposals, such as a property-tax-hike cap.

But Paterson, unexpectedly, has already proved that an engaged governor can drive Albany’s agenda to a fair degree.

Just a few weeks ago, after all, some feared the state would go without a budget until after November’s elections. As of now, much of the budget is in place — and state government avoided a shutdown. Paterson deserves much credit.

Sure, we have qualms with parts of the budget that appear likely to stick — assorted tax hikes, for example, and hardly any real effort to rein in spending. You can bet we’ll have more to say on that as the process moves forward.

But Paterson has been on the right side — and fighting hard for weeks against a feckless lot. That’s worth something.